1962 was a benchmark year for the Stratocaster® guitar. Five years of experimentation after the famous 57 model culminated in another pivotal year for the Stratocaster. The American Vintage 62 Stratocaster recalls the vibe of its Kennedy-era ancestor, with features including a capped rosewood fingerboard, three-ply aged white pickguard and special 57/62 pickups.

This is a good reissue Strat in an different color than the usual sunburst or white. The color is not as electric as some of the pictures online seem to suggest. It's more of a slightly darker daphne blue. The AlNiCo V '57/'62 pickups are very sweet sounding, nice and bright with no harshness. The nitro finish has a nice feel, and mine is not sticky like some Fender reissues I have played. Since it is a reissue it comes with a three-way switch, but Fender includes a five-way if you want to modernize (which I did). Tremolo bends are smooth and return to pitch well. Considering this is an American-made guitar from the vintage reissue series I did expect a bit higher quality. The nut is cut so that the fretboard dots are not centered between the D and G strings; a minor thing, but it looks cheap. Some of the screws are set in crooked. Lastly, the finish cracked slightly under the strap button on the horn (but not due to removing the guitar before waiting the suggested 24 hours to allow the temperature to adjust slowly). Those are the reasons I marked this guitar down on quality and value. Overall it's a solid Strat. I think it ought to be priced at the level of the American Standard series considering the build quality.